


Nonverbal Communication for Duplicates

by jabedalien



Series: Modern Vampirism [7]
Category: Community (TV)
Genre: Canon Autistic Character, M/M, Multi, Muteness, Nonverbal Communication
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-19
Updated: 2020-12-19
Packaged: 2021-03-10 19:40:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,480
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28172556
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jabedalien/pseuds/jabedalien
Summary: “Do you want to talk about it?” He replies, leading Brad to the living room.He shakes his head, kicking his shoes off and settling on the couch.“Do you not want to talk at all?” Abed asks.Brad nods again in confirmation.
Relationships: Abed Nadir/Jeff Winger
Series: Modern Vampirism [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1866472
Comments: 4
Kudos: 16





	Nonverbal Communication for Duplicates

**Author's Note:**

> this is from months back but today is a day for posting some drafts! i've only been nonspeaking for hours at a time so please take this with a grain of salt.

Abed leaves behind the sketches of spaceship designs he’s working on in his studio when he hears the familiar creak of the closet door, followed by quiet footsteps.

“Brad?” Abed calls out from the end of the hallway, his face peeking out from behind the door with a small wave. He doesn’t have on the usual button-up and sweater combination on, instead wearing a light sweatshirt and joggers that somehow look just as expensive.

Abed’s going to ask what happened to his usual uniform, but when they get close enough Brad pulls Abed in for a kiss. It’s slow and firm, when he steps back he gives a satisfied smile at the way Abed nearly stumbles forward into him. 

“What’s up?” Abed asks, realizing Brad still hasn’t said anything.

Brad shrugs, seems to think about the answer for a while, then looks at him and blinks.

“Bad day?”

Brad nods.

“Do you want to talk about it?” He replies, leading Brad to the living room. 

He shakes his head, kicking his shoes off and settling on the couch. 

“Do you not want to talk at all?” Abed asks. 

Brad nods again in confirmation.

“Is it a character thing? You don’t have to be Brad if that’s harder.” Abed says, but that doesn’t get a response. “Or is it just not a talking kind of day?”

He smiles a little and holds up two fingers in response to tell Abed _the second one_.

“Cool cool cool.” Abed answers. “You can put something on TV.”

He hands Brad the remote, and lets him start clicking around. It’s clear some things are unfamiliar to Brad, from the way he pauses on them and narrows his eyes reading the descriptions. Abed figures there’s plenty of stuff that didn’t get made in his timeline that he’s probably interested in browsing though.

Abed has enough of his own experience with this, there’d been plenty of times when words escaped him, though in past years they’d been few and far between. He wondered if Brad could say the same. 

Jeff had dubbed them his “Quiet days” when they first started dating and happened a lot more often. He’d always been good at handling them too, talking through the silence to hold a conversation even when Abed didn’t say anything back. Jeff would never ask for him to speak before he was ready, was even willing to have sex with him silently as long as they made everything clear beforehand. Abed looked at Brad next to him and decided there was no reason he couldn’t be that person for Brad. He knew what it was like, didn’t he? He could make things a little better, take or leave the quiet sex and all its hand signals. 

Abed leaves to the kitchen, then returns with a bowl of buttered noodles and places them in front of Brad, who’s picked out an episode of Ducktales and is letting it play.

Brad looks down at the bowl in front of him and signs a _Thank you_ to Abed before he starts to eat.

“That’s about all the sign language I remember.” Abed says, settling on the couch against Brad’s side. “Sorry. I’ve always been meaning to learn it for real, but I’ve been putting it off. Not that I’m really lacking in time, anyway.”

Brad shifts and places a kiss on Abed’s cheek, then pulls away fast and goes back to the noodles, but Abed can swear he _feels_ Brad’s embarrassment materialize. Abed would love to say it’s because he’s gotten so good at reading people after all these years, but it’s just the fact that Brad’s embarrassment seems to be the exact same as his. He wraps a hand around Brad’s waist and leans into his shoulder, feeling the uncertainty ebb away between them. 

To his credit, it only takes another minute of thinking for Abed to realize why one of them seriously learned sign language and the other gave up on it when that girl stopped talking to him.

“Do you know sign language for your Troy?” He asks Brad, who looks away from the TV with a small smile, and Abed can tell by his eyes that he’s right.

“Maybe I can learn it for you.” Abed muses. 

Brad turns to Abed and puts a hand on either of his shoulders, carefully guiding Abed backwards on the couch. The touch is firm, though Abed could easily resist, could put a hand on Brad’s hip and toss him halfway across the room if he really wanted to. But he’s more than willing to let Brad take what he needs from him, to lay him down gingerly, eyes always studying, fingertips running down his sides. Eventually Abed finds a comfortable position and Brad settles on top of him, laying between Abed’s legs with his head pillowed on his chest. He tilts his head to Abed and raises his eyebrows, looking unsure again.

“It’s alright, I do this with Jeff all the time.” Abed says, which makes Brad relax against him. “And can you grab that?” He adds, pointing to the weighted blanket on the floor next to them that’s just out of his reach. 

Brad picks it up and lets Abed drape it over them. He’s used to Jeff’s weight on his chest, so this actually feels a little lighter, and Brad’s warm against him, his breathing steady as he pulls the blanket around himself and watches the screen.

At the end of an episode Brad lifts his head from Abed’s chest to meet his eyes, and holds his wrist up to his lips.

Abed finds the scar on Brad’s arm and presses it with his thumb. “Over the same spot as before?” 

He the returns a sharp grin, and Abed happily sinks his teeth in. Brad lets out a soft sigh against Abed’s shirt, his eyes still half-focused on the TV. When he lets go Brad presses the pad of his thumb between Abed’s lips for just a moment, pulls away with a drop of blood on it and holds it in front of Abed’s face with another smile.

“I like being with you.” Abed says, because it feels like the kind of thing he appreciates hearing from Jeff. “You don’t have to talk for us to be together.”

Brad doesn’t say anything back, but he takes the tip of his forefinger and traces the shape of a heart over Abed’s chest, then sheepishly buries his face in Abed’s shoulder and kisses his neck.

They stay like that for a long time, and Abed can feel them melting together in the quiet, laughing at all the same jokes, and Brad’s got that not-quite laugh Abed recognizes from when his voice isn’t working, and he finds himself appreciating it much more when it’s not his. Brad traces the lines of Abed’s hand with his fingers until he falls asleep.

…

“Wasn’t expecting a visitor today.” Jeff says as he walks in the front door and spots Brad still asleep on Abed’s chest.

“Brad’s having a quiet day.” Abed explains.

At the sound of his name, Brad stirs and looks over at Jeff in a way that feels like an apology.

“Hey, I actually really like these days.” Jeff tells him. “Mostly because I enjoy the sound of my own voice.”

“We knew that already.” Abed rolls his eyes.

“I’m feeling better now, I think.” Brad says, his voice scratchy and hoarse.

“How long?” Abed asks.

Jeff passes him his water, and he adjusts on the couch to drink it before putting it back.

“Thanks. And three days. My Jeff was getting worried.”

At _three days_ Jeff raises his eyebrows in shock, but Abed isn’t fazed.

“It isn’t _unheard_ of.” He explains.

Brad nods in agreement. “We went two weeks once in eighth grade.”

“Sometimes I forget you guys are pretty much the same person.”

“We have more of the same memories than different ones still. For a few more years, at least.” Brad says.

Jeff grabs Brad’s hand in his and squeezes it tight. When he leans over to kiss Brad’s cheek, Brad turns to connect their lips in a deep kiss, dragging his teeth along Jeff’s lower lip and his hand sliding up his side before he pulls away. Brad feigns innocence and bats his eyelashes at Abed when he leans back.

“I’ll allow it.” Abed smiles with a glimpse of fang.

“Should probably be getting back to my Jeff now.” Brad tells them. “He’ll be happy this helped.”

Abed walks him over to the little dreamatorium and opens the door.

“Thanks. Really.” Brad says as he steps in.

“Of course.” Abed answers. “Sometimes we need some time to reset. And—and you can always spend it with me. I’d like that a lot, actually.”

“Me too. See you, Marcie. Sooner than later, probably.” Brad smiles as the door shuts.


End file.
